The p53 tumor suppressor protein plays pivotal roles in tumor suppression and its gene is the most frequently mutated in human cancers. Thus, elucidating at molecular, cell and organismal levels how wild-type p53 functions in normal cells, or how mutant p53 dysfunctions in tumor cells will yield important and novel therapeutic and diagnostic approaches to human cancer. The International p53 Workshops have continuously attracted scientists working on p53 to interact, discuss their latest scientific findings and initiate new collaborations. These meetings have been enormously important and effective for promoting the exceptional vigor of the p53 field. The 12th International p53 Workshop will be held November 6-10 2004 in Dunedin, New Zealand at a conference center associated with the University of Otago. The conference site was chosen this time to facilitate interactions between the US and European scientific communities with scientists from Pacific region including Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The organizing committee consists of the conference convener, Dr Antony Braithwaite (University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand) along with Dr Bruce Baguley, (Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, Auckland, New Zealand), Dr Carlos Cordon-Cardo, (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, New York, USA) Dr Curtis Harris (Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis, Bethesda, USA), Dr David Lane (University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland), Dr Martin Lavin (Queensland Institute Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia), Dr Arnold Levine, (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA), Dr Moshe Oren (Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel), Dr Carol Prives (Columbia University, New York, USA), Dr Roger Reddel (Children's Medial Research Institute, Sydney, Australia), Dr Varda Rotter (Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot,Israel), Dr Janice Royds (University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand), Dr Thierry Soussi (Institut Curie, Paris, France), Dr Yoichi Taya (National Cancer Centre Research Institute, Tokoyo, Japan) and Dr Thea Tisty (University of California, San Francisco, USA). The organizing committee has been successful in raising money for covering expenses of invited speakers. Funding is requested for expenses of US postdoctoral fellows and graduate students including women and underrepresented minorities and people with disabilities. This support will be crucial for a key mission of the Workshop, which is to support the science and training of future US leaders in the p53 and cancer research communities.